OBJECTIVE:

Memory has been examined in subjects with imaging markers of cerebrovascular disease, but learning has been less well studied. We examined the relationship among subclinical cerebrovascular disease, cerebral volumes, and verbal learning in an ethnically and racially diverse community sample.

METHODS:

A clinically stroke-free subset of Northern Manhattan Study participants underwent cognitive testing and brain MRI with quantification of white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) and total cerebral volume (TCV) using semiautomated segmentation. We used generalized linear regression and mixed models to examine the association between imaging findings and verbal learning.

RESULTS:

There were 1,272 participants (61% women, mean age 70 ± 9 years). Participants with greater WMHV and smaller TCV remembered fewer total words on a list-learning task (β = -0.83 per SD change in WMHV, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -1.22 to -0.45, p < 0.0001; and β = 0.48 per SD change in TCV, 95% CI = 0.05 to 0.90, p = 0.03, respectively). Subclinical brain infarction (SBI) was not associated with total words learned (β = -0.04, 95% CI = -1.08 to 1.00, p = 0.94). Those with greater WMHV had increased odds of a flatter learning slope. After excluding participants with SBI, the association between total words learned and WMHV remained significant. All measurements were adjusted for age, education, race/ethnicity, medical insurance status, and the presence of SBI.

CONCLUSIONS:

White matter hyperintensities, a marker of cerebral small vessel disease, may have an impact on learning slope. This suggests that verbal learning performance can be incorporated into neuropsychological measures for vascular cognitive impairment and that cerebrovascular disease discovered on imaging affects the ability to learn new information.

© 2015 American Academy of Neurology.

PMID:

 

26002489

 

[PubMed – as supplied by publisher] 

• 1From the Department of Neurology (G.W., J.J.H., A.S.B., R.A., P.A.W., S.S.), Boston University School of Medicine, MA; The Framingham Heart Study (G.W., J.J.H., A.S.B., R.A., P.A.W., S.S.), MA; the Department of Neurology (P.M., C.D.), The University of California at Davis, Sacramento; and the Department of Biostatistics (A.S.B.), Boston University School of Public Health, MA. galitwai@bu.edu.
• 2From the Department of Neurology (G.W., J.J.H., A.S.B., R.A., P.A.W., S.S.), Boston University School of Medicine, MA; The Framingham Heart Study (G.W., J.J.H., A.S.B., R.A., P.A.W., S.S.), MA; the Department of Neurology (P.M., C.D.), The University of California at Davis, Sacramento; and the Department of Biostatistics (A.S.B.), Boston University School of Public Health, MA.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the possible early consequences of impaired glucose metabolism on the brain by assessing the relationship of diabetes, fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels, and insulin resistance with cognitive performance and brain integrity in healthy young and middle-aged adults.

METHODS:

The sample included dementia-free participants (mean age 40 ± 9 years; 53% women) of the Framingham Heart Study third-generation cohort with cognitive testing of memory, abstract reasoning, visual perception, attention, and executive function (n = 2,126). In addition, brain MRI examination (n = 1,597) was used to determine white matter, gray matter, and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volumes and fractional anisotropy measures. We used linear regression models to assess relationships between diabetes, FBG, and insulin resistance with cognition, lobar gray matter, and WMH volumes as well as voxel-based microstructural white matter integrity and gray matter density, adjusting for potential confounders. Mediating effect of brain lesions on the association of diabetes with cognitive performance was also tested.

RESULTS:

Diabetes was associated with worse memory, visual perception, and attention performance; increased WMH; and decreased total cerebral brain and occipital lobar gray matter volumes. The link of diabetes with attention and memory was mediated through occipital and frontal atrophy, and the latter also through hippocampal atrophy. Both diabetes and increased FBG were associated with large areas of reductions in gray matter density and fractional anisotropy on voxel-based analyses.

CONCLUSIONS:

We found that hyperglycemia is associated with subtle brain injury and impaired attention and memory even in young adults, indicating that brain injury is an early manifestation of impaired glucose metabolism.

© 2015 American Academy of Neurology.

PMID:

 

25948725

 

[PubMed – as supplied by publisher]